Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-06-07

tics in Later Life-Finish with
Bath.
In these days Of muscular activity gym
nasium is an interesting place even to those
who know nothing about gymnastics. Here
is large hall, with gallery running around
it, and filed with all sorts of curious con
trivances for developing physical strength.
A dozen men, of as many kind of build are
exercising their muscles and preparing for
the outdoor contests of power and endurance
which are to take place during the summer.
There are big men showing" dumb bells and
little men standing on their hands, while men
Of middle size pull on strange looking ma
chimes composed of pulleys and weights. The
outsider wonders what all these things are,
and what they are for. and it may be well to
satisfy his curiosity
The first thing a man wants to do who
want to be a gymnast is to convert his soft
fleSh into tough, elastic muscle The careless
observer fancies that muscle ought to he as
harl rs wood, and he is often misled into
iancyme that the hiceps is the chief, if not
Tie only, muscle that is useful
BIG BICEPs.
oh locl, ct his muscle" " is the common ex-
clamation when man brings his wrist up
toward his neck and raises a swelling lump
or the front Of his upper arm. Well, a big
biccpS Is a good thing; but a man who lacks
triceps and pectoralis major will not do a
great deal of damage in a fight or in foot
ball match. The bicepS is a pulling muscle.
aud it happens that 4 man has to push just
as hard as he has to pull in all contests of
strength So the young gymnast usually be
gins with Indian clubs, which produce a
general dev elopment of the arms shoulders
and chest At all public eymnastic exhibi-
tions fancy club swinging is one of the feat
urcS, and some of the intricate and graceful
evoutious that are performed by crack club
swinSers are surprising But for the mere
development Of strength three or four of the
rudImontary movements, which can be mas
tened III an hour, are all that are necessary
The young gymnast usually begins by
working too hard. 1t is hard to teach a man
moderation on his first day i'll the gymna-
SUM, but on the second day it is usually more
difficult to persuade him to do anything at
all The first days exercise has a telling effect
hl'l liit i}N lut lliiit Tux
young eymnast goes to bed he begins to feel
Us if he had the rheumatism in every fiber Of
his body from the waist up, and when he
arises in the morning he is SO sore that every
movement causes pain He is 10th to make a
single motion that Is unnecessary, and the
cXertinn of strength causes him to groan.
There is only one thing to he done, and that
j to Eoright 30 work again. The muscles are
stiff and the stiffness must I've taken ont So
let the Young gymnast get bis clubs and
swing away. After the first few moments
the soreness VIII begin to decrease and viii
gradually disappear The next day it will bt
just as lad as ever and rnlst be removed by
the same method. In q few days it will per
manently disappear. and the gymnast vii
discover that his muscles have already begur
to show the effects of systematic exercise.
THE PARALLEL BARS.
1t will be time for him to take to the paral
lei bars-two long pieces of wood supported
by upriChts and placed side by side just abou
as far apart as the width of a good sizeC
mans shoulders. The first thing that the. be
ginncr usually does is to practice pushing III
and down Placing his hands upon the bar
he supports his body above them, while hi
Ices hang down between. Then by bendin;
his arm; at the elbows be lowers his body a
far as he can and pushes it up again b,
STRENGTHENING his arms. This looks simpl
enough but it is cruel. hard work at first
| The beginner. however, must Keep at it til
he can do II fifteen or twenty times. IL
| must continue tine club swinging, and ma
| ndd IA little light dumb bell exercise IIeav,
dumb bells should he eschcwed hy all excep
those who are not going i'll for heavy gym
nasticS They are not healthful, and plent,
of fine development can be got without them
The man who has to sit i'll an office all da'
| can 70 TO his gymnasium for an hour III tn
| evening and get all the exercise needful TO
| health and strength Once acquired, tn
| ability to do Gynnastic feats may be retaine
| for wears Daily practice is all that Is neces
sarv. 1t is a mistake to suppose that ma
| must give up gymnastics when he has GO
| along to say GO years of age II he will cor
| tinue to practice an hour daily he may go o
| doing good back and front somersaults unit
| his children are old enough to take lesson
from him. And if lie cannot spare the tim
to go to & gymnasium he can keep up hi
muscles at home Five minutes dumb be
exercise before going to bed, few pushes u
| and down on the backs of two chairs by wa
of parallels. and five minutes club swingin
in the morning will preserve for many yeaI
the muscles developed in the gymnasium.
One thing should never be neglected. If
man wants TO get the very best possible benef
out of his gymnastic work. let him alway
finish with bath. The water should not /
warm, nor yet quite cold, and the ablutio
should be ended with q cold shower batl
After that let the gymnast rub down har
with Turkish bath towl and dress himsel
He will leave the gymnasium feeling as if
could whip John L. Sullivan, eat Texa
steer, or go around the world on toboggai
| New York Times.